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tion of greatest damage by electricity and water,COURTSHIPfYEARSYEARS' WEDDED LIFESuesNow Martha BrighamHusband for Divorce andAgrees(By the Post Young Woman)MARLBORO, July 14.—The culmination of a tragedy which has been covered up. and glossed over for half a century, has just come to light.It is the old tale of love—for there was love once—which somehow got so perverted and twisted out of recognizable shape that in the end it became almost hate, certainly aversion, and a couple who had courted for MO years and lived together for 15, are now practically as strangers.Martha E. Brigham, now 53. and Ashley Brigham, 68, were born and brought up in Marlboro and have always lived here, except when he went away to New York for three years. Though of the same name they were not related.Landlord and Tenant FirstForty-five years ago, Ashley Brigham was running a butcher shop on Main street and Martha Brigham had a little millinery establishment, which was right beside the butcher shop and which Ashley Brigham owned.So, when the pretty little milliner—for she was pretty, notably pretty—came to pay her rent, she met the butcher, who bore a striking resemblance to a scholarly clergyman.After sundry meetings love sprang up, so the story goes, and an engagementwas formed.But the years went on and no weddingtook place.The couple simply kept company.”Thirty Years51 CourtshipFifteen years went by and it got to be a Joke—that Is, a joke to outsiders. But no girl likes to be kept waiting forever.The bridal veil and organge blossoms were a very illusive dream to pretty Martha Brigham.Rumor has it that Ashley’s maiden sister was* the cause—Miss Octavia Brigham, spinster.Devoted to a fault she was, though prim as becomes the New England spinster. But she wouldn c let him marry, dear me, nol She really couldn’t spare him.Day Set, Promise Brc . iFinally, regular days were set for the wedding, and solemn oaths were sworn that if he didn’t come on a certain night to make her his bride—well, Heaven help him!But he never came; or, if he did, It was to put it off again.Much waiting maketh the heart grow weary, says an old adage.Maybe so. Certain It is that after T0 years of waiting and being put off, because, forsooth, a maiden sister is not ready to abdicate, the pretty little darkeyed Martha Brigham sued her fiance for $10,000.And he, spurred on by such dire necessity, shook off the bondage of his spinster sister and married Martha Brigham.Fifteen Years of Wedded LifeFor 13 years they lived together.Happy? Well, they aren’t the sort to talk if they weren’t happy, and no oneever knew.But last January, Martha Brigham packed her personal belongings and left Ashley. She took a house down by the old homestead, and there she is living with her nephew, his young wife and tho baby boy.And Ashley Brigham lives in one of his many houses with Octavia, his maiden sister.The court papers are being signed. So much the neighbors know, for details are scarce in Marlboro.“Sued Into Marrying,** He SaysAshley Brigham, himself, is a tall, clerical-looking man, with mild blue eyes and rather an unhappy face. His shoulders are bent, and his tall frame moves slowly.As he sat there in the neat little front room with Sister Octavia, It seemed very evidently true when she said:Ashley never was one to be very strong. You always have to look out for him, you know. He'd never want trouble. Dear me, no.And Ashley Brigham bent his gray head meekly.I was sued Into marrying, and I’m sued out of it, said he, and his sister nodded gravely.She says it was 30 years I was courting her. I don't remember but 17, and it wasn’t much courting anyhow. SheHOW TO KEEP COOLUse the Boston Worcester Trolley Air line. Cars leave Park square for Worcester and South Framingham every 15 minutes. Fine scenery. Low fares. *Use Horsford,lt;r Acid PhosphateDestroys the gc: of typhoid and other fevers. Makes a refreshing and cooling summer drink. •BOYS* TEN CENT PANTSTwo pair to each customer today only at F. Gray Co.’s big sale. Washington and Hanover streets. •WITH IMPURE DRINKING WATERContinued on Page 5—Fourth ColumnHerWHAT LIGHTNING DIDIN GREATER BOSTONStruck the New Old South Church, Boylston street, corner of Dartmouth, burned portion of the vestry. Damage $2000.Burned part of the steeple of Eliot Congregational Church, Kenilworthj street, Roxbury. Damage $5000.Killed a woman in Medford.Struck the flagpole at the East Bos-; ton entrance to the tunnel.Stunned a woman and three children' at 1 and 3 Lindall place, West End.Struck an electric car in Medford. Panic among the passengers. Motor-man and a woman severely shocked.Tore off the roof of the primary school at Braintree.Struck dwelling houses in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester and Quincy.Put the police signal system in Revere out of commission.Struck poles, wires and trees in many places.Struck a painter at Hough’s Neck and stunned him, and prostrated three others.Shocked inmates of a dwelling at Atlantic which was struck.NEW OLD SOUTH DAMAGEDLightning Strikes the Spire, Tears a Hole in the Roof and Sets theVestry on FireThe Now Old South Church on Boylston street was struck by lightning during the second storm last night.The bolt hit tho spire. It tore a great hole in the roof, and passed through the library, kitchen and into the dining room, where a fire started.Residents on Newbury street saw the flames and sent in a still alarm. Chief Mullen sent in an alarm from Box 89.For nearly an hour the firemen labored to extinguish the flames, whioh had eaten their way into the walls and partitions.Several walls had to be nearly torn down. It was only after using a great deal of water that the flames were finally conquered.The damage will be over $2000, as the lower floors w'ore badly damaged by waiter. The main church structure was not injured.The New Old South was built in 1875, and it is the place of -worship for the congregation which worshipped in the Old South Church at the corner of Washington and Milk streets.TEMPERATURE YESTERDAY1904. 1903.3 a. ..........................GO 776 a. in.........................GO 739 a. m. .........64 si12 m..........................73 913 p. m..........................78 906 p. m..........................77 899 p. ............ 75 7212 mid..........................70 72Average temperature yesterday. 80 22-24. Average temperature one year ago yesterday, 09 19 24.SHOWERSLocal forecast for Boston and vicinity—Saturday, showers, followed :•/ fair and cooler. ^(For details of the storm see Page 2)
Newspaper Details
Boston Post
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Sat, Jul 15, 1905
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Free T.
IA, USA 17 Oct 2018
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